Can't find link info for navigation buttons

[rianashley]

Hi, my flash template I purchased came with an error in the navigation. I just noticed that two of the buttons are linked to the same page. I contacted the online vendor and have not heard anything back from them and I don't think I will be buying another template from them now. I have been looking all over to find where the information for linking the pages would be. My thinking is that it would be in the actionscript. However, I have not found it yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Jer]

the code could also be on the buttons themselves. Try clicking on one of the buttons in Flash and looking in the actionscript panel.

Jer

[jpdedmon]

who is this vendor of broken templates that we might all be wary?

you'll need to start with trying to get a good understanding of exactly what the buttons are triggering. first, do like Jer suggested and check the button itself. then, with the button selected, look at the instance name in the properties panel. that's the name they might have used to call the action of the button. try searching for that name in the Movie Explorer [Alt+F3]. that should help you track down the script that's triggered when the button is clicked.

once you've reached your limit of trying to get it to work and you feel like you've given the vendor reasonable time to respond, maybe you could just post the file and i'll troubleshoot it for you. on second thought, don't post it here (due to a likely distrobution agreement violation). if you want help, PM me and i'll give you an e-mail address. i promise not to use the template in a project. this kind of thing can probably be solved in under a half hour.

[rianashley]

who is this vendor of broken templates that we might all be wary?

you'll need to start with trying to get a good understanding of exactly what the buttons are triggering. first, do like Jer suggested and check the button itself. then, with the button selected, look at the instance name in the properties panel. that's the name they might have used to call the action of the button. try searching for that name in the Movie Explorer [Alt+F3]. that should help you track down the script that's triggered when the button is clicked.

once you've reached your limit of trying to get it to work and you feel like you've given the vendor reasonable time to respond, maybe you could just post the file and i'll troubleshoot it for you. on second thought, don't post it here (due to a likely distrobution agreement violation). if you want help, PM me and i'll give you an e-mail address. i promise not to use the template in a project. this kind of thing can probably be solved in under a half hour.

Hi, the vendor is http://www.templates247.biz/
I don't think they are going to respond because I contacted them on Tuesday with just a simple question regarding the template and got no response. I just won't deal with them again. Thanks. I will try Jer and your suggestions tomorrow and hopefully I can find the script that way. Thanks again for your help.

the code could also be on the buttons themselves. Try clicking on one of the buttons in Flash and looking in the actionscript panel.

Jer

Thanks, Jer, I will try this.

[jpdedmon]

i believe the problem has been solved. i took a look at the template and found a problem with one of the symbols containing content. the symbol having the problem looked like it was structured a little differently than the rest, so i took a closer look, and it seems the developer had mistakenly embedded a symbol used to display the content of another area into it. the mistake was probably due to being in a hurry, not double-checking their work, and not following best practices when naming symbols and organizing the library.

once again, it is proven that fla's should be thoughtfully structured and everything carefully labelled, especially when developing templates, or projects that will be worked on by other developers.

i emailed the corrected file a few minutes ago to rianashley.

rianashley, let me know if you still have trouble with it.

[rianashley]

i believe the problem has been solved. i took a look at the template and found a problem with one of the symbols containing content. the symbol having the problem looked like it was structured a little differently than the rest, so i took a closer look, and it seems the developer had mistakenly embedded a symbol used to display the content of another area into it. the mistake was probably due to being in a hurry, not double-checking their work, and not following best practices when naming symbols and organizing the library.

once again, it is proven that fla's should be thoughtfully structured and everything carefully labelled, especially when developing templates, or projects that will be worked on by other developers.

i emailed the corrected file a few minutes ago to rianashley.

rianashley, let me know if you still have trouble with it.

Awesome! Thanks and thanks again sooooo much for finding out what the problem was and fixing the links for me. Can you tell me exactly where the problem was and what I need to do so that I can apply the same fix to the copy I have edited and customized already? I sent you the original template from the vendor because I didn't think the error was on my part and wanted to make sure the error wasn't from a mistake I made in editing and customizing my copy of the original template.

[jpdedmon]

okay, this might be a bit trickier to explain than it was to do, but i'll give it a shot.

- first, expand the library so you can see the column 'Use Count'. click the menu button at the very top, right of the library panel (all the way to the right of the label 'Library').
- select 'Update Use Counts Now'. notice the numerical values that now appear in the 'Use Count' column. see how everything from symbol 1 through 41 have a use count of '1' except for movie clip '4'? that's a problem. by the way, this is a good time to mention that it's not a good idea to name your symbols with just numbers; this would be a lot easier to troubleshoot if the names were descriptive.
- on the main timeline, there is a symbol on Layer 1 with an instance name of 'main'. double-click that to enter edit mode.
- move the playhead to frame 62 and click on the keyframe on 'Layer 8' (again, it's not a bad idea not to give good names to layers)
- notice the frame label is 'philosophy'. this is where the problem is located.
- with that frame selected (make sure the layer is not locked) and double-click below the words 'Our Philosophy' on the stage. look above the timeline; you should now be editing movie clip symbol '65'.
- make sure 'Layer 1' is not locked and double-click below the words 'Our Philosophy' again. you should now be editing symbol '49'.
- move the playhead to somewhere after frame 11 (where the white box is no longer visible).
- make sure the layer 'docs' is not locked and double-click the text area. you are now editing symbol '3'.
- make sure 'Layer 1' is not locked and select the text area. notice in the properties panel that the text area is symbol '4'. that's the same symbol being used for 'commitment'... and there in lies the rub. now, let's fix it.
- with the text area selected (symbol '4') open the actions panel if it's not already open [F9]. you should see some scripts in there. click somewhere in the code area and select all [Ctrl+A], now cut it to the clipboard [Ctrl+X].
- select the text area again and break it apart [Ctrl+B].
- with the text area still selected, make another movie clip symbol out of it [F8]. name the new symbol '3b' (just to keep it near the other symbols it relates to in the library), and hit enter (or select OK).
- with our new symbol still selected, click in the actionscript panel and paste the code you cut out before [Ctrl+V].
- click on the text area again to select it. now, you need to name it 'docs_mc' in the 'instance label' area of the properties panel.
- back out to symbol '34' and drill down into the 'commitment' area (frame 63 of symbol '34'), and add the word 'commitment' or something in there so you know you're looking at different text from the philosophy area.
- save your work with a new name (to protect the original), and test it.

tada! if everything went according to plan, it's all better now. if not, zip the one you want edited and send it to me. i'll try to watch my email during the day tomorrow and get it back to you as quick as i can get to it.

[rianashley]

okay, this might be a bit trickier to explain than it was to do, but i'll give it a shot.

- first, expand the library so you can see the column 'Use Count'. click the menu button at the very top, right of the library panel (all the way to the right of the label 'Library').
- select 'Update Use Counts Now'. notice the numerical values that now appear in the 'Use Count' column. see how everything from symbol 1 through 41 have a use count of '1' except for movie clip '4'? that's a problem. by the way, this is a good time to mention that it's not a good idea to name your symbols with just numbers; this would be a lot easier to troubleshoot if the names were descriptive.
- on the main timeline, there is a symbol on Layer 1 with an instance name of 'main'. double-click that to enter edit mode.
- move the playhead to frame 62 and click on the keyframe on 'Layer 8' (again, it's not a bad idea not to give good names to layers)
- notice the frame label is 'philosophy'. this is where the problem is located.
- with that frame selected (make sure the layer is not locked) and double-click below the words 'Our Philosophy' on the stage. look above the timeline; you should now be editing movie clip symbol '65'.
- make sure 'Layer 1' is not locked and double-click below the words 'Our Philosophy' again. you should now be editing symbol '49'.
- move the playhead to somewhere after frame 11 (where the white box is no longer visible).
- make sure the layer 'docs' is not locked and double-click the text area. you are now editing symbol '3'.
- make sure 'Layer 1' is not locked and select the text area. notice in the properties panel that the text area is symbol '4'. that's the same symbol being used for 'commitment'... and there in lies the rub. now, let's fix it.
- with the text area selected (symbol '4') open the actions panel if it's not already open [F9]. you should see some scripts in there. click somewhere in the code area and select all [Ctrl+A], now cut it to the clipboard [Ctrl+X].
- select the text area again and break it apart [Ctrl+B].
- with the text area still selected, make another movie clip symbol out of it [F8]. name the new symbol '3b' (just to keep it near the other symbols it relates to in the library), and hit enter (or select OK).
- with our new symbol still selected, click in the actionscript panel and paste the code you cut out before [Ctrl+V].
- click on the text area again to select it. now, you need to name it 'docs_mc' in the 'instance label' area of the properties panel.
- back out to symbol '34' and drill down into the 'commitment' area (frame 63 of symbol '34'), and add the word 'commitment' or something in there so you know you're looking at different text from the philosophy area.
- save your work with a new name (to protect the original), and test it.

tada! if everything went according to plan, it's all better now. if not, zip the one you want edited and send it to me. i'll try to watch my email during the day tomorrow and get it back to you as quick as i can get to it.

You are AWESOME!!!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Everything looks fine now. Again, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I don't know why the developer didn't label anything descriptively in the template. I always label my stuff with descriptive names because I know I won't be able to find anything. Again, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! If I said Thank you too much it's because I really do appreciate all your awesome expert help! Once again, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

[jpdedmon]

no problem. happy flashing.